Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I'm back today with an artsy canvas tag project to share for Impression Obsession Week at Stamper's Dream. The canvas tag (oh my gosh, I'm in love!) is from Maya Road. First I inked up Impression Obsession's large Music Cover-A-Card Background Stamp in Ranger's new Pumice Stone Distress Ink and stamped the whole tag. It's a very light effect, so you may not see it in the photo. Next I added a Prima crystal and pearl flourish, followed by some May Arts Ivory Loose Braid Wired Ribbon topped with some gray twill Pink Paislee Ribbon Pleats. Another oh my gosh, I'm in love - this twill comes already pleated and stitched! The ribbon border is topped by a loopy bow made from some Offray skinny ribbon and a Prima flower. Last comes the three Impression Obsession Mannequins, which I stamped onto Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock and colored using Prismacolor pencils. I trimmed each one out before adhering to the tag, partly so the crystals could show from behind and partly so I could nudge them a little closer together. To replace the rod portion of the stamped image, which I wasn't able to successful trim around, so therefore cut off altogether, I simply hot glued the tops and bottoms onto straight pins. Worked beautifully!

Be sure to check out Dream Teammates Cammie, Michelle, Silke, and Tosh, who are also posting Impression Obsession lovelies today.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Hi friends! It's Impression Obsession Week at Stamper's Dream! Be sure to check in with the Dream Team each day this week for oodles of Impression Obsession loveliness. Also posting today are Cindy, Dawn, Denise and Michelle. If you missed out on Day One, visit Laurie, Becca and the newest Dream Team member, Leslie Miller, to catch up. (Welcome to the team, Leslie! We are SO lucky to have you!).

For today's project, I've created a framed bath decor piece using an image called Sanctuary. Here's the full view:

I figure if I can't be in a tub like that, sipping wine and eating cake, then at least I can color one instead! Speaking of being in a tub like that, my first idea was to make a "do not disturb" door hanger. Totally useless in my house - I can't do anything without company - but I love the idea! I did all of my coloring with Prismacolor pencils, blending with Gamsol. I like the softer look of the pencils with this particular image.

I chose soothing shades of blues, greens, and grays, along with a touch of warm brown, for my color combo. The patterns in Memory Box's Spearmint collection worked perfectly as a backdrop. The word "relax" is done with Maya Road chipboard letters. I first painted them with white acrylic paint, then coated them with Ranger's Picket Fence crackle paint. Hopefully you can see the detail in this next shot:

The image is die-cut with the largest of the Labels 10 Nestabilities. I finished off with some ribbon pleating along the bottom and a ribbon and button combo at the top.

This was a tricky project to photograph, so here's one more shot. Hopefully, between the lot, you'll get a good feel for this! And remember, you can always click on any image for a larger view.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

I have another guy card to share today. Yay for getting some more masculine things added to my stash! This one uses the rockin' You're My Hero set by Taylored Expressions, along with some very cool designer papers from the TE Rock Star Key Ingredients Kit. The funky metallic stripe reminds me of colored stage lights and special effects.

I stamped the silhouette guitarist in Versafine Onyx Black onto one of the rock star designer papers, then clear embossed and die-cut into a circle. For the "you're my" portion of the sentiment, I inked each letter individually, stamped, and cut them out to make the little tabs. I've seen this look around a bit lately and love how it looks around circle panels. "Hero" is stamped in black on white and notched on one end to make the banner/flag. The green splotch is just a very small part of a much larger splotch image in the set.

Remember,You're My Hero is the current Taylored Experssions Giving Tree set, which means that $7 of every set purchased is donated to Cure Search.

The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the week:

Come play along with us, and you could be a future SFYTT guest designer! All you have to do is upload your creation to the slideshow that's posted on Jen's blog along with the sketch (different slideshow for each sketch). To get you started, check out what all the awesome SFYTT sisters have put together this week:

Friday, March 26, 2010

{Second post for today. Scroll down to the previous post or CLICK HERE to see if you're the winner of a $200 JustRite Shopping Spree! I had one of the hidden blog candy giveaways from Tuesday's mega blog hop - FUN}

I've been playing with some delicious new Stamper's Dream goodies and loving every minute. To start with, there's the new Queen Bee line by Pink Paislee, which as my #1 favorite from CHA. Next is the gorgeous Prima Pewter Say It In Crystals & Roses Swirl. GASP! You don't need to do much else when you have one of these! I've used the complete swirl on today's card, but you can also cut it apart into smaller pieces for more mileage. Remember the cuckoo clock card from last weekend? It's hard to believe, but today's card actually uses that very same set - Cuckoo by Hero Arts. The two cards are just crazy different. This time, I was inspired by the awesome sentiments in that set, most of which work well with or without the cuckoo clock imagery. This card uses the smaller clock face image and the sentiment "It's Time to Celebrate."

Thanks to Tosh's enabling, I recently picked up a pair of Martha Stewart Deco Shells corner and border punches at Michael's. Loving this punch! The accordian flower behind the clock was done with the Deco Shells border, as was the standard ivory border along the bottom.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Thanks so much to everyone who hopped along with JustRite & Friends! I can't get over the incredibly gorgeous and creative projects all the talented stampers have shared. I hope it was inspirational to you as well!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

I was looking back through this month's Viva La Verve sketch challenges yesterday, and the week 2 sketch, along with one of the accompanying inspiration photos (the lush lime green splashback), called out to me. Tomorrow, Amber will post the last sketch of the month. If you complete all five of the March sketches, you'll have a chance to enter a random drawing to win Verve's entire next release. Cool? YES! Deadline is April 1. Details are all HERE in the Verve Forum on SCS.

Here's the Week 2 Sketch that I used:

And here is the inspiration photo I used:

The patterned papers are from Pink Paislee's Bayberry Cottage collection (the same collection I used for yesterday's JustRite blog hop project). For the focal panel, I die-cut Papertrey's Rustic White card stock using a Mega Curved Rectangle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, then sponged on Ranger Peeled Paint Distress Ink with the die still in place. I stamped the Big Wish sentiment from Verve's Big Wish set (available individually or at a reduced price as part of the Spring Fling Collection), then added a butterfly punched from black card stock and coated in Martha Stewart's Hematite glitter (love the slightly metallic black color of this). The wide striped ribbon is by Stampin' Up, and I further embellished with a Martha Stewart punched border and some zigzag stitching using embroidery floss.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and Happy Spring! Hope your weather is living up :)

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Welcome to the first day of JustRite's 3-Day Mega March Blog Hop! If you haven't already begun at the JustRite blog, then be sure to go there first so that you don't miss a single thing! If you arrived here by way of Kellie Fortin, you're right on track. When you're finished here, you'll hop over to the amazing Jerri Jimenez. (I'll have the full list of blog hop participants at the very end, too.)

24 designers, FIVE shopping sprees each day. No one knows where the prizes will be! Each day of the hop, JustRite will have five Mystery Blog Candy Prizes hidden along the hop with a total retail value of $600. JustRite will randomly select five mystery blogs each day of the hop and randomly allocate each of the shopping sprees. For your chance to win, simply leave a little love (a comment) on each designer’s blog including the JustRite blog. The more designers you leave comments with, the better your chances of winning. Each day’s comments will remain open for three days. A winner from each of the mystery blogs’ comments will be randomly chosen using Random.org. Consult the listing of designers at the JustRite blog each day (each day’s designers will be different) and start out on your way! Beginning Friday, March 26, summaries of all the winners will be posted on the JustRite blog. Good luck to everyone and enjoy all the JustRite eye candy along the hop!

Today during the JustRite Mega March Blog Hop (Day One) JustRite and its sponsors will be giving away the following five prizes:

Blog comments for Day One will be open until Thursday at 6pm EST. On Friday, JustRite will announce on their blog which five blogs have the mystery candy for Day One. You will need to go to the JustRite blog to determine where you need to go to find out if you are one of the five lucky winners.

Monday, March 22, 2010

A week or so ago, I posted an invitation I designed for a baby shower that I was planning with some friends. Yesterday was the shower, and the day was just perfect in every way. I mean, really, it was just one of those occasions you hope will never end!

A couple of readers asked me to post the shower favors, so I thought I'd share those today. To go along with the sweet peas on the invitations, we packaged up some sweet pea seeds as favors. We ordered the seeds in bulk, so we first put a couple teaspoons of seeds in small zip-top jewelry bags, then placed those in some of Papertrey's glassine bags. A top-fold tag/bib/label (whatever you want to call it) is tied on with some 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and a button. The tag is made of Kraft card stock and includes a sweet note with planting instructions. The Kraft is matted with Soft Sky, and some Dark Chocolate scallops peek out from the bottom, too. A punched border and a row of dry embossed dots were pretty much all the additional embellishing they needed. The favors were displayed in an antique dough bowl (I think that's what it's called). I forgot to take a picture ahead of time, so the photo above shows just the extras that I brought home with me.

Here's a closer look at the tag:

Hope you had a great weekend! Mine was busy, but rejuvenating, too. My daughter decided to extend her weekend with a case of what we think may be pink-eye. She wasn't "sick" in the not-feeling-well sense, just contagious (most likely), so I kept her home from school. We had the best time hanging out in the back yard most of the day :) When the bus dropped off my oldest son, the driver asked my daughter if she was playing hooky. I've gotta say, it was just as fun as playing hooky, with the benefit of being perfectly excused :) Gotta love that!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Happy Saturday, friends. Today, the Sketch For You To Try sisters are posting cards for our teammate Susan Liles. Susan has some info on her blog about her husband's recent lymphoma diagnosis and what they may be facing in the months to come. We would all love it if you, too, would use today's sketch to make a card for Susan! Her address is posted HERE on her blog and on Jen's blog today.

To play along, upload your sketch card to today's slideshow at i{heart}2stamp.

For my card, I pulled out this super fun, whimsical Cuckoo set by Hero Arts. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. It's adorable and different from anything else I own. There are a bunch of really great sentiments, too. The one I used today (on the inside) is perfect for my card to Susan:

Today's card doubles as my entry for this month's Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni challenge. I haven't done one of these in a long time, but only because I always forget. This month, Joanne Basile is hosting, and the theme she chose is "The Birds and the Bees." We're required to use a bird or bee image, and, get this ... the restriction is no border punches. WHAT?! Did you ever hear of such a dastardly deed? Teehehe. Click HERE to see the rest of the DD/DDA challenge entries.

I won't be winning any compliance awards from the sketch police this week, as I added the circle panel behind the cuckoo clock. On the sketch, I think the pink heart is really supposed to be more like an embellishment. The cuckoo clock is stamped with Versafine Onyx Black, clear embossed, and colored with Copic markers, then trimmed out and popped it up. The clock face and two birds are popped up again. I added two small black pearls - one for the flower center and the other at the center of the clock face. The orange dp is from Basic Grey's Green At Heart collection. I used some 12x12 that I scored at CHA, but you can find the smaller 6x6 pads at Stamper's Dream now. The green gingham background dp is from Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl collection.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

I am head over heels in love with this sentiment that's in Verve's new Feel the Sun set: "Some people make the world special just by being in it." How sweet and uplifting! I played along with this week's challenge over at Crazy 4 Challenges (C4C28), which is to make a masculine card. They're typically hard for me, so I always welcome the extra nudge to add one to my stash.

The sun image is from Verve's new Let It Shine set, and all the patterned papers are from the Love Me Do collection by My Mind's Eye. Ribbon and crystals are by MFT, and the button is PTI. Borders are EK Success and Martha Stewart. The white stitching is done with a paper piercer and a white gel pen.

Thanks for stopping by! Remember, Verve's Spring Fling Bundle (the full March release) is available at a discounted price through the end of the month, or while supplies last. Check it out HERE!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

I made today's card with my friend Susan Liles and her husband Eric in mind. If you haven't read about Eric's recent lymphoma diagnosis, stop by Susan's blog for info and updates. They have been in my thoughts and prayers nearly non-stop this past week. I hope you, too, will pray for them.

The stamps I used are from Easter Blessings by Taylored Expressions. I stamped the cross once in Stampin' Up's Always Artichoke craft ink and a second time in Papertrey's Ripe Avocado. Both are heat embossed, and the second is trimmed and popped up on the first. I die-cut the cross panel into an oval and gave it a chocolate frame using one of the new Spellbinders Labels 10 Nestabilities.

On the inside I featured this beautiful sentiment of hope and encouragement (also from TE's Easter Blessings set):

The flowers are by Prima with centers that I made following the steps in this tutorial. Here's a detail shot:

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Welcome to the mid-March My Favorite Things blog hop. You're right on track if you hopped here via Jody. If not, take a few minutes to get caught up, starting with Kim. You won't want to miss one bit of today's cuteness! :)

Today, we're featuring this month's VIP Package, which includes Baby Bump (a set from April's upcoming release) and a very cool assortment of related products (ribbon, diaper pins, notecards, and even a free companion sentiment set). The VIP Package is available for one day only - today! After that, the sets go back into hiding until April's release.

So, check out this awesome Baby Bump image. Our signature "Who's That Girl" is preggers - how fun is that?! And the sentiments are just as fun. I especially love "Shop 'til you 'Drop,'" so I decided to put together a quick tri-fold gift card holder using this tutorial from Splitcoast.

On the front, I paper pieced most of the stamped image and used Copics to color the rest (skin, pants, boots). The bags are pieced with Kraft, and I gave them "real" rope handles using some twine.

When you open the first fold, you see the "Shop 'til you 'drop'" sentiment.

Open the second fold to find a small envelope that holds the gift card, with some space below for a personal note.

Your next stop on the hop is a real treat - our April guest designer Kerry J! She's amazing!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Happy Saturday, blog friends. The gorgeous, warm weather we had in my area earlier in the week has left me yearning for Spring even more than before. It was so nice to be outside in a t-shirt and flip-flops enjoying the warm(ish) sun and getting some yard work done. It's rain, rain and more rain today, but oh, that taste of Spring was divine!

Today's card is my sample for Jen's Sketch For You To Try for this week. I've used a brand-new Flourishes set, Friendly Reminders, now available at Stamper's Dream, along with some beautiful, bright papers from the Mary, Mary paper kit by My Mind's Eye. Is that a Spring combo or what?!

To play along, just upload your creation to the slideshow on Jen's blog. Each weekly sketch has its own slideshow, so be sure to upload to the correct one. From now on, Jen will be picking the next month's guest designer from the current month's participants, so be sure to strut your stuff!

I stamped the hat image three times, the first time on watercolor paper, where I added a light blue color wash around the image using a Tombow Marker (#491) and a water brush. Next, I stamped twice on Neenah white, trimming out the whole image once and just the hat the next time. I colored both of these layers with Copic markers. I added some of Ranger's crackle medium to the green board, hoping to get the look of crackled paint. It turned out looking more like a ruler (really! lol!). I embellished with some flowers and a glittered Maya Road chipboard butterfly (soooo lovin' these! you'll be seeing a lot more of them, I'm sure!). For the semi-circle panel on the sketch, I went with vellum so that I wouldn't cover up too much of the bright, happy green and white polka-dot pattern.

Please do not examine my sewing today. Oh my goodness, it's horrific! I'll tell you what happened. I wanted to try mixing in some small stretches of zigzag stitching to break up the straight stretches. To get it to look right, I need to shorten the stitch length for the zigzags and then go back to a longer stitch for the straight parts. Well, I kept forgetting to change the length, so I ended up with a very random (and unappealing) mixture of stitch length. Lesson learned, but now I'm out of the paper needed for a re-make :/

Friday, March 12, 2010

I made today's card a little while back as a prototype for a baby shower invitation. Those of us hosting the shower all wanted to do something a little different from the traditional baby bottles, booties and such. One of the ladies suggested going with a sweet pea theme, so we've all kind of run with that. I was especially tickled because I had picked up this Lockhart Sweet Pea in a Pod image about a year ago, but it had not yet seen ink. Our guest of honor is expecting twins, so I had to alter the image just a little to suit - I just drew in a second face and added an "S" to the end of Sweet Pea. There, now we have twins!

Unfortunately, I ran out of time and had to simplify the design a bit in order to get the invitations out the door. Y'all know I tend to be a "more is more" gal, but sometimes less is necessary. Here's the re-make:

I eliminated the blue halo and sponging on the image panel, the sponging/aging around all the paper panels, changed the twill/button/bow/tag to just a twill band with a punched circle for the sentiment, and eliminated all the beautiful stitching {sniff, sniff}. The good news? They only required one stamp!

The shower is next weekend, so I'll be working on favors next and maybe a diaper cake if I can make one that's pretty enough. Oh, and a gift ... hmmmm, what should I make for the gift? Love doing this kind of stuff!